It turns out I was wrong. He had already started seeing another woman just days after we separated. Given the suggestive nature of the gift, the relationship between the two was obvious.
He didn't want to come back, and I was struggling to care for our daughter on my own. With my mother-in-law's attitude, she certainly wouldn't come to help. I had no choice but to turn to my own mother.
I thought my mother would understand, but as soon as she walked in, she slapped me hard.
I stood there, stunned, unable to believe my eyes.
"You shameless woman! How did I raise you? You've had an education, and yet you commit adultery and betray your family? How could you do something so disgraceful?"
"I didn't." I wanted to cry but had no tears, unable to explain the strange situation I was in.
Facing my strict mother, I felt like a criminal.
At night, after my daughter had fallen asleep, I poured out my grievances to my mother, telling her that my husband already had another woman.
"It's all your fault. No matter how upset you are, you brought this on yourself. If you had been faithful to your husband from the beginning and acted like a proper wife, none of this would have happened."